


EIGHT | Azuma Yukishiro x Reader

by sevulent



Category: A3! (Anime), A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Song: Eight (IU), Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:27:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28666965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevulent/pseuds/sevulent
Summary: Futuristic! AUBased on Eight by IU ft. Suga
Relationships: Furuichi Sakyou & Yukishiro Azuma, Tsukioka Tsumugi & Yukishiro Azuma, Yukishiro Azuma/Reader, a3/reader
Kudos: 7





	EIGHT | Azuma Yukishiro x Reader

**Author's Note:**

> Futuristic! AU
> 
> Based on Eight by IU ft. Suga

> _**"So are you happy now,** _   
>  _**Finally happy now, are you?** _   
>  _**Well, I'm just the same,** _   
>  _**I feel like I've lost everything..."** _

Images flashed before him, one after another. Remnants of a past he couldn't remember. He could only recall the sounds of laser guns speeding past him, the feel of a gun in his hands, orders coming and going, the war... never-ending. 

_He couldn't remember anything before all of it._

Recollections constantly flooded his mind, filling his dreams with broken memories of a woman clad in a snowy white dress, silky [hair color] hair that flowed behind her back like waterfalls, [eye color] eyes full of life, full of youth. Every night, he saw the same woman haunting him, her sweet voice luring him into the comfort of his dreams before they turned dark, the sound of gunshots replacing her laugh, piercing screams replacing her sweet, silvery voice.

When the days progressed and the dreams continued on, Azuma almost felt desperate to remember. He would yell for you to come back, beg you tell him your name, only for your face to blur into nothing, your body disintegrating in the air like it was nothing but dust.

He often consulted the military doctors whenever he saw those dreams, but they never helped given that they always tried to convince him that they were probably just dreams created by his imagination. 

But Azuma refused to believe it.

There was something he wasn't remembering, something- no, someone, he wasn't remembering. He desperately wanted to remember everything before the war. Who was he? Where did he come from? Who are you?

You haunted his dreams constantly, but every time he was in them, even if people would call it a "nightmare" of his, then he wouldn't want to wake up from it.

"Yukishiro," A stern voice called out to him, snapping him out of his reverie, "Are you still listening?"

He looked up at his colleague with a small, breezy smile on his face, "Yes, yes, I still am. Don't worry."

Sakyo sighed, handing him a few files, "You've been out of it, lately. Are you sure you're all right? Do you want to visit the doctor again?"

Azuma shook his head, "No, it's all right. I was just thinking about something."

Sakyo didn't press him any further, instead, he brought up a different topic that strayed away from their usual discussion about warfare and strategy, "The war seems to be letting up, we might be able to go home again soon.."

_Home_. Such a foreign word it was. So foreign, he didn't even know how to feel every time someone said the word. A lot of people would remember earth as a place where they could finally feel at ease, a place where they could relish in the sweet oxygen generously given to them by the trees and greenery that covered the planet, where animals and humans roamed freely, unconcerned about the thought of war looming over them like it wasn't bound to happen any time soon.

However, to Azuma, home didn't feel any different from the battleground he was placed in. Earth just felt like any other planet he went to, a temporary place to stay in.

"Yes, we might..." He muttered, "Do you have any plans, Sakyo?"

"Well..." Sakyo thought for a moment, "I was thinking of spending some time with my wife and children, maybe make some plans for their future as well."

Right, Sakyo had a wife waiting for him back at home. As much as he wanted to feel happy for his fellow soldier, Azuma felt envious of him. He wondered how it felt like to have someone waiting for him.

"That sounds lovely..."

"What about you?" Sakyo asked, "Got any plans? You won't be young forever, y'know?"

Azuma chuckled, "I'm aware of that, but I'm not very sure yet." Your face appeared in his mind, but it disappeared so fast that all he could remember was the color of your eyes.

> **_"Everything comes and goes as they wish,  
>  Even without a goodbye,  
> If this is how things are,  
> Then I don't want to love anyone again..."_ **

The war finally ended. The ships prepared to launch back to earth and bring everyone home. While everyone was preparing to meet their loved ones again, Azuma made his way through the crowded hallways of the headquarters before arriving at a set of two sliding doors that revealed an emptier hallway. The doors closed behind him as he sauntered towards another sliding door that opened upon his thumb's contact with the scanner.

"Knock knock," He said with a breezy smile, entering the room like he had been there dozens of times in the past. 

"You arrived earlier than usual, Azuma-san," Tsumugi's gentle voice almost seemed to echo within the walls of the lab. Azuma smiled back at him as his eyes roamed around the room to survey it like he did each time.

Tsumugi always kept his lab clean, with fresh white walls paired with a smooth matte gray floor, where floor lights lined the perimeter of the large lab room. There was another set of sliding doors that led to another part of the lab, one that Azuma had never really entered even while he was waiting for Tsumugi to come back after having lunch or from a meeting. The flowers he had preserved for years still remained alive in pots close to his desk, the large umbrella plant made a home on the corner of his room. Sometimes, Azuma would catch him watering them whenever he visited. 

The rest of the room consisted of scientific equipment, large computers, instruments, chemicals, and the like. But they weren't anything interesting to him.

Right now, Tsumugi sat at his desk, seemingly working on some paperwork, with a desk lamp providing extra light for him to see clearly. He didn't lift his head to look at Azuma, instead, he flipped to another sheet of paper, scanned its contents, and signed his signature on it. 

"Well, there isn't much for me to do after work. Home is right around the corner," He said, approaching the scientist.

Tsumugi finally met his gaze, a small sympathetic smile on his face. Usually, Azuma would visit his lab to ask him about his work, and about memories. However, just recently, he had asked him for a favor. 

"You must be excited, Azuma-san," Tsumugi said to him, clicking his pen closed before removing the glasses that were perched on the bridge of his nose, "To regain something that has been lost, after everything you've been through."

"I don't see it that way, I don't think they were lost."

"You poor man," He stood up, flattening the wrinkles on his lab coat. "Follow me."

Azuma nodded, staying behind him as Tsumugi walked towards the other door that led to his other lab. He pulled out a card from the inside pocket of his lab coat and slid it into a small card machine right next to the door, he then quickly typed a five-digit passcode, prompting the door to slide open once the machine let out a light beep.

> _**"I'm just going to take a trip down  
>  My old memory lane..."** _

"Are you sure this will work?" Azuma asked, lying down on the small flat bed that stood in the middle of the dim room, surrounded by neon blue floor lights. Tsumugi activated the machine, focusing on the computer in front of him as he typed in a few commands.

"Certain," He said, "The real question is: Are you sure you're prepared for this, Azuma-san?" 

The silver-haired soldier tilted his head up to look at him, "What do you mean?"

"Although your past memories may be returned to you, they might cause you mental pain. You might see things that will upset you," Tsumugi explained to him with a worried expression, "That is to say, you might regret remembering."

He stared at the lights of the ring that hovered above his head, "You know, Tsumugi-san, I decided to do this without expecting any good memories."

Tsumugi blinked, "W-Why is that?"

"Because then, I don't think I would be here if all my memories were good," He replied, "Even if I do have a few happy memories here and there, I didn't decide to download my memories for the happy ones."

"Then what are you truly after?"

"Everything, Tsumugi-san," He said, "Everything I never knew. I want to remember who I was and who I used to be..."

Laughter rang in his ears, then visions of a house atop of a hill, looking over the view of a grassy field and the sun that would set in the far horizon at the end of every day. 

Azuma wanted to remember each sunset, he wanted to remember you.

"I want to remember her."

The blue-eyed scientist tilted his head, "'Her'?"

Azuma smiled up at him, ignoring the questioning look on his face, "Shall we begin, Dr. Tsukioka?"

Tsumugi frowned slightly, only to nod and turn his gaze back to the screen in front of him. He ran his fingers over a few buttons, stopping at a red one, and pressed it.

The large ring that hovered above Azuma's head lit up as his eyes fluttered shut.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

The cool breeze gently touched his skin, flowing past him as the grass followed it's rhythm. The sound of a laugh caught his attention, and he turned his head to where you stood. 

You had a white sun hat settled on your head, held on its place by your hand as you turned to gaze back at him with a smile that made his heart flutter every time he saw it. You looked real, with the way the white dress fluttered around you like a bird's wings.

"Seems like it was a good idea to have lunch out here after all, huh?" You said, your voice finally clear in his ears. Your voice was beautiful compared to the soft whispers he heard in his dreams.

Azuma looked around, he noticed he was sitting against a white and blue checkered blanket, where in front of him laid containers of scrumptious food, sandwiches and sliced fruits, cookies and cupcakes, and a large container with a salad topped with dressing.

"It was," He heard himself say, "The weather is perfect, and that dress looks absolutely beautiful on you."

He heard you giggle sweetly. For a moment, Azuma thought you were glowing. 

> **_"Under the orange sun,  
>  We dance together where there're no shadows,  
> There is no promised break-up there,  
> I'll see you again in my beautiful memories_**,
> 
> **_Forever young..."_ **

Most of his memories consisted of you. Times where you would lie in bed with him, your arms wrapped around his waist, while his encased around your frail figure. The smell of your scent felt real to him, the smell of fresh fruit and flowers. Times where he would chase you around the house you shared, laughing maniacally once he had caught you. Times where you would stand at the balcony, sharing a sunrise view with him as you ate simple sandwiches for breakfast. 

Azuma remembered the times when he would watch you sleep, he would gently run his hands through your silky hair, letting your [hair color] tresses slip through his fingers like water. He remembered you greeting him with the sweetest, tired smile you could muster whenever you opened your eyes in the morning, the way your eyes emanated pure bliss when he would kiss your forehead in the softest way possible. 

He remembered blue skies, summer nights, bitterly cold winters, and spring days with you. From the day he met you in his childhood, to the day he had asked you to be with him forever, isolated in your island of memories where you spent all your days alone together.

>   
>  _**"Goodbye is like an emergency alert,  
>  Wake up in the morning, longing for you,  
> I'll pass through the infinite eternity,  
> To see you on the island again..."** _

But it all came crashing down.

But it _all_ came crashing down. 

A large explosion shook you both awake in the middle of the night. Azuma held your hand to calm you as you both rushed out of your shared bedroom and to the balcony.

He captured you in his arms when another bomb dropped in the middle of the field, causing you to flinch violently in his embrace. Small ships filled with soldiers in black covered the fields with their guns in hand. Azuma's eyes widened, he pushed both of you to the ground when they shot their bullets to your house.

_"Over here!"_ He yelled, pulling you with him back inside the house before grabbing an emergency ray gun that he had concealed inside the kitchen counter's cabinets. He held on in his hand before leading you out.

You were scared for your lives, but you tried to steel yourself. Tightening the grip you had on his hand, the two of you tried to escape the soldiers that rushed to capture you both. 

Azuma shook at the memory that had corrupted his mind, everything escalated too quickly for him to process. The familiar sound of gunshots ringing overhead, explosions bursting on every corner, turning the once green field into a dirty war zone littered with abandoned weapons and bloodied bodies of those who once lived.

In an instant, his happiness was ripped away from him when a soldier had managed to get a grip on you, tearing you away from him. Azuma tried to save you, shooting through groups of soldiers that blocked his path. He heard you screaming his name, screaming for your life. 

Another gunshot rang in his ears, and you were silenced.

Time seemed to slow down around him as your body slipped from the grip of your kidnapper, life draining from your eyes as you fell to the ground. 

_"[NAME]!!!!"_

You didn't even get the chance to tell him your final words, your life had quickly ended as your blood dripped from the bullet wound on your back. They stained him as he held your limp body with shaky hands. 

He felt his throat becoming sore, his cheeks becoming wet as something clear dripped from it onto the dirty, muddied ground. He didn't realize he had been screaming, crying, begging for all this to be a silly little nightmare. He called out your name, over and over, until he lost whatever remained of his voice.

Then his eyes opened.   
  
Right as they did, a single tear slipped from his eye and down to his temple.

> _**"As someone once said to comfort me,  
>  It's not easy to forget even a handful of memories  
> A long time has passed,  
> But the island still holds on to me..."** _

He finally remembered who you were...

He finally remembered who you were...

You were both 26 when he lost you, the same age he had entered the military so as to not waste his life getting drunk over your death. He knew you enough to tell that you wouldn't want that for him.

He decided to forget you and everything before the military when he was 27. Before joining the war in another galaxy, he had asked another doctor to remove his memories before 27. Which included his childhood days, his adolescence, and you.

But it seems that after all this time, his heart refused to forget you.

Tsumugi stayed silent for a while as he watched his dear friend stare wide-eyed at the ceiling, tears trickling from his eyes as they blurred his vision. 

It was only moments later when Azuma decided to sit up that he spoke to him, "Azuma-san, are you all right?"

Azuma turned to him with glossy eyes and a small, grateful smile. "Yes... _I'm okay_."

**❖ ❖ ❖ ❖**

He felt his heartache at the sight of the familiar green field, and the cerulean sky where cotton candy clouds drifted by, greeting him as he walked underneath them. The sight of the house that sat atop a hill seemed to smile upon his return. He was 39 now, you should have been too. 

The house welcomed him with a nostalgic atmosphere, the old furniture that had carried dust over the years was still where he left them. Some of the things that had been destroyed that night remained shattered on the floor. Visions of the night that changed his life reappeared in front of his eyes, but he didn't flinch at the reminder of it.

He dropped his bag by the couch, trying to piece every fragment together within the house of dusted memories.

> _**"We pillow our heads on each other,  
>  Sharing stories that aren't sad,  
> There is no gloomy ending there,  
> I'll meet you again in these memories forever..."** _

After cleaning the entire house, Azuma sat on the carpeted floor, looking out into the balcony in front of him through its sliding glass doors. He remembered you lying down there once, on blankets and pillows, while eating a bowl of grapes, sharing every detail of your day at work. He often listened from his spot beside you, leaning against the living room's coffee table while unconsciously smiling and engraving every expression on your face into his mind. He still remembered it up to this day.

  
Now retired from the army, Azuma decided that he would spend his days recalling every memory of you. Even if he would have to live alone from now on, he was certain of one thing:

He would no longer do anything to erase you from his mind. Instead, he would keep you in there as his companion and let you continue living in his heart like you always had. 

Maybe one day, he would meet you again. Maybe one day he would see you again while he lay on a white bed, surrounded by the friends and allies he'd made during his time in the military, and smile at your approaching figure. Maybe he'd get to see you again in your dashing white dress and your favorite sun hat, smiling sweetly as you reach your hand out to take him home.

Maybe you'd welcome him in your arms and live with him once again on your island of memories. An island with a green, grassy field and a house atop a hill, overseeing the sun as it waved from the sky above before sinking into the far horizon, burning in an orange glow. Maybe he'd get to kiss you again and tell you he loved you for all eternity and whatever lay beyond it.

Maybe one day, you won't get the chance to have any sad endings, only a cycle of happiness and love that went on forever, until the universe fell on its knees. Maybe one day.

But for now, he will seal all those thoughts away and continue to live with only your memory to keep him company... _until the day you welcome him home once again_.

> _**"If this is a nightmare,  
>  Then I don't want to wake up..."** _

**[UNEDITED]**


End file.
